J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res., Volume 10, Issue 3 (September 2015) – 6 articles

This study investigates factors influencing live customer support chat services in Kuwait. Live Customer Support Chat represents a newly implemented type of customer service in E-commerce websites. Live Support Chat allows online agents through company’s websites to answer customer questions, complaints, and concerns on the spot through a live chat session, which bypasses the traditional e-mail and web forms. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on the well-established Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action. The study tries to validate these theoretical frameworks in the context of Live Customer Support Chat to see if they can be equally applied to the E-commerce enlivenment as in the other technology fields. Using a sample of 324 respondents, the hierarchical regression revealed that factors such as usefulness, ease of use and attitude have a significant influence on customers’ intention to use Live Customer Support Char services. Our model explains around 31% for the variance in customers’ intention to use Live Customer Support Chat. Full article

The aim of this study is twofold; firstly, to develop a comprehensive measure that quantitatively assesses an e-store’s web appeal, and secondly, to propose a framework that evaluates effectiveness of online marketing efforts in terms of overall appeal of e-tailing sites. The paper adopts a hybrid approach to website assessment which involves studying both information system elements and dimensions of e-marketing to define and measure the concept of web appeal. A total of five information system elements and seven e-marketing elements were identified as essential components of web appeal, and were used to build a measurement instrument. The instrument’s validity was confirmed by testing it across 80 e-stores in the Middle East and its usefulness with respect to the identification of an e-store’s strengths and weaknesses was established. In addition to being a measure of overall web appeal, the instrument also contributes towards conceptualization of a theoretically sound framework that aligns elements of web appeal to e-marketing objectives. This model provides a systematic criteria for comparing websites, and offers valuable insights into how website attributes can be used to achieve desired performance in terms of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers, as well as competing with rival stores. Full article

The buyer’s trust in seller in consumer to consumer e-commerce plays a critical role in consumer purchase decisions. Thus, this paper aims at analyzing the relationships between buyer’s trust in seller, price discount, and price premium by using product price as a moderator variable. A trust function for sellers was calculated through a questionnaire, by using the feedback mechanism and by applying Analytical Hierarchy Process. Our empirical study, using historical transaction data, indicates that buyer’s trust in seller in the case of an expensive product is more important than that in an inexpensive product. Buyers’behavior when purchasing a higher-priced product was more sensitive to the buyer’s trust in seller than to product price. Product price played the role of a moderator variable in the relationship between buyer’s trust in seller and price discount. However, there was no evidence that product price performs the function of a moderator variable in the relationship between buyer’s trust in seller and price premium. Full article

Social media is used as a platform to not only make connections and share user-generated content but also to advertise products. We study the role of opinion leadership on the social media networking website of Facebook for product advertisements through news feeds and wall postings. We found that perceived benevolence of the opinion leader posting advertisements was significantly associated with increased intentions to purchase and also increased purchase behavior. Also, although the Theory of Planned Behavior variables of increased attitudes, social norms, and behavioral control were significantly associated with increasing purchase intentions, only purchase intentions was significantly associated with purchase behavior. Type of friend was significantly associated with purchase intention but no relationship occurred for purchase behavior. Management information systems professionals involved with the development of social networking websites should consider perceived benevolence as an area of importance for interesting consumers to explore and use newly developed aspects of social networking websites. Marketers should ensure that their advertisements on social networking websites are perceived by consumers as benevolent. Full article

Organizational agility is a key factor for survival and success in today’s global, interconnected and turbulent business environment. Mobile technology, due to its anywhere, anytime characteristics, can be a promising tool for enhancing organizational agility. Yet there are no studies that guide organizations in leveraging mobile technology for improving speed and responsiveness to market needs. This paper attempts to fill this gap by exploring the question of how mobile technology can be used to enhance organizational agility. We use an exploratory research approach that analyzes archival data of 89 case studies describing contemporary applications of mobile technology within organizations. After developing a mobile agility framework and using it as our analytical lens, we examine each case to identify specific ways in which mobile technology is used to improve operational, customer, and partnering agility. The main contribution of this study is identification of emergent clusters of agility-enhancing mechanisms based on the benefits of mobile technology. The discovered benefits and mechanisms can guide organizations on improving their agility with the help of mobile technology. We also formulate research questions that should be addressed by future studies in order to produce a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of how mobile technology improves organizational agility. Full article